


Return to Hollow Hill

by DaemonMeg



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Execution, F/M, Not Canon Compliant, Post - A Dance With Dragons, Rare Pairings, Swordfighting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-07
Updated: 2014-06-07
Packaged: 2018-02-03 19:22:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1755081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaemonMeg/pseuds/DaemonMeg
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Brienne of Tarth returns to Lady Stoneheart with Jaime Lannister in the hopes of rescuing Podrick Payne and Hyle Hunt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Return to Hollow Hill

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jmeelee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jmeelee/gifts), [Damablanca](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Damablanca/gifts).



> Based on [this post](http://snkrfnd.tumblr.com/post/85645119625/more-below-is-rampant-speculation-fueled). I wrote this for the small and neglected Brienne x Hyle fandom.

She stumbled as their guards pushed them roughly into the cave.It was difficult to keep her balance with both arms bound behind her back and a leather hood over her head. _Jaime._   She could hear his shuffled footsteps behind her and she felt the relief wash over her.  There was still a chance.

When the hood was pulled from her eyes, Brienne blinked rapidly at the harshness of the firelight dancing along the cavern walls.  The flickering shadows made her eyes swim and several breaths passed before she could focus on the figure in grey standing among the stalagmites.

A mottled hand reach up to a ragged gash in the throat and she could only discern coarse whispers.  Lady Stoneheart had only deteriorated further while she had looked for Jaime in the Riverlands.

“Milady says she is surprised you kept faith with her,” said one of the northmen.  She couldn’t remember his name from last time, but his face was familiar.

She could feel Jaime fidget behind her, and out of the corner of her eye she saw two men holding him by the elbows, keeping him from struggling.

“Lady Catelyn, I have kept my vow to you and so has Ser Jaime,” she bowed her head to the hooded figure.  “We came back to you voluntarily, now keep your promise to me and release Podrick.”

Again came the whispers from the Lady’s mangled throat.  “The sword or the noose.  The choice remains the same.”

She saw a flicker from one of the tunnels, and both Podrick and Hyle emerged from the blackness lead by more northmen.  The boy seemed unharmed other than the rawness about his neck, but Hyle still sported green and black bruising on his face from a recent beating.  Podrick looked resigned to see her but Hyle wore an angry glower on his face and swore at her.

“I swear to you by the Seven that he is not the man we all thought him to be.”  Brienne rolled her shoulders and raised her chin.  “I choose the sword, but I demand trial by combat as Ser Jaime’s champion.”

At these words, Jaime resumed struggling behind her and she heard the sound of a pommel striking him behind the ear.  He crumpled to the ground, but she was relieved to hear him breathe.  “If I fail, I will be dead and you can execute Ser Jaime for the crime of breaking oath with Lady Catelyn.”

“And what is to prevent us from executing all of you?”  The words came from Thoros of Myr, whom she remembered from before.

“I am willing to take that chance.”  Brienne probed the scar tissue inside her cheek, tasting it, running her tongue over the gnarled flesh.  “Who will be your champion? Will it be you, Thoros, with your flaming sword?  Or will it be the hulking brute in that yellow cloak?”

“Milady!” Hyle called out to Stoneheart.  “I will be your champion. In the name of the Lord of Light, I will cut down the Maid of Tarth for you in exchange for my freedom.  You should have let me go in the first place.  I would have brought back the head of the Lannister oathbreaker.”

Lady Stoneheart gave her assent and the Red Priest brought Hyle a flaming sword as his bonds were cut.

“You, ser, are no true knight,” Brienne hissed at him.

“Come, Brienne the _Beauty._   Let us see if that is Oathkeeper you carry or Oath _breaker_ _._ ”  He strode forward across the cavern and slanted his blade across his body with both hands.  Stoneheart’s men had not seen fit to give their champion a shield, so Brienne propped hers against the stone wall, keeping the fight fair.

At first they circled one another, and Brienne remembered the melee at Bitterbridge and that be-damned wager at Highgarden.  This was a long time coming.  She waited, just as Ser Goodwin had taught her, and Hyle struck first, sweeping his burning blade hard and low.  She side stepped it easily, knowing it was meant for her knees.  He swung the sword above his head then, and the flames made a whirring noise as they flickered though the air.  The heat made her eyes water and she brought her blade up, blocking the slash at her face.

“Do you remember how we would talk in Renly’s camp? You always loved to hear my stories.”  Hyle’s words surprised her, and she turned her ankle with her next step.

“I remember you played me for a fool,” she said and spat at his feet.  No matter how they circled, she made sure to keep Oathkeeper between them.

“Your horse always loved apples.  Wasn’t that it?”  She saw his right shoulder drop, and she braced for the jab, but Hyle swung the blade left handed instead, scoring a hit on her pauldron.

“My _horse_ had more honor than you!”  She charged at him and feinted high.  When he brought up the sword for a block, she slammed her boot down the front of his shin.  Lady  Stoneheart’s men had stripped him of his armor, and he flinched backwards at the abrupt pain, but he quickly regained his footing.

“No, I have it. It was carrots.”  He grinned at her then, but all she could see was the lie behind his honest looking face.  “And you always had a smile for me when I would sit at your fire each night.”

She felt a push from behind and realized Hyle had circled her into the group of northmen watching their duel.  She stepped forward more into the cleared space of the cave and resolved not to let Hyle distract her with his speech.

Suddenly, he stepped inside her sword’s reach and brought up his blade under her arm where it was exposed, but she twisted again at the last minute and slid the edge of Oathkeeper against his throat.  Hyle swept it aside with his left arm, drawing blood but saving his neck from the worst of it.  The front of his shirt, none too clean to begin with, slowly darkened with the blood that streamed down from under his ear.

He brought up his flaming sword as if in a salute.  “I remember the look in your eyes the day I gave you the plume to wear in your helm.  Do you remember?   I found one that matched your Kingsguard cloak.  The very same hue for Lady Brienne the Blue.  Do you remember?  Do you remember when Renly pinned that cloak around your shoulders?”

“Do.  Not.  Speak.  Of King Renly.”  Brienne circled him and waited for the bleeding to weaken Hyle.  She bit down hard on the scar tissue in her cheek until she could taste the spike of copper.  “He was a better man than you.”

It was only a heartbeat before she saw the hesitation.  The stumble.  She saw his eyes widen when the realization hit him.  She lunged then with Oathkeeper, meaning to bury it in his bowels.  But Ser Hyle turned at the last moment, taking the blade in his hip instead.  She could feel the steel slide against his pelvic bone and he brought his own sword down on her clenched hands, twisting his pommel against hers.  She lost her grip and Oathkeeper tumbled to the ground.

With a swift kick, Ser Hyle swept her feet out from beneath her and he bent to grab Oathkeeper before she could reach it.  “My lady, you should have wed me when I made my offer.”  He swung the sword towards her, angling the edge of the blade at her neck.  She closed her eyes. _Jaime.  I failed.  I’m sorry Jaime._

The cave erupted in screams and she heard something thump to the ground.  The blow never came and she opened her eyes.  Lady Catelyn’s head rolled to a stop in front of her, eyes still open in death.  She heard the voice of Thoros calling for the northmen to stop.

“My lady?   Brienne?”

She looked up and saw Hyle leaning down.  He held Oathkeeper in his right hand and offered her a hand up with his left.  She just stared at him with mouth agape.

“My lady?  We need to get Podrick and Ser Jaime out of here while Thoros still can calm the northmen.”

She took his hand and scrambled her feet.  “I, I swore an oath to Lady Catelyn.  We would not raise arms against her or her family.”

“You may have sworn a vow, but I don’t recall that I did.”  He didn’t let go of her hand.

“No man since Bitterbridge has bested me at swords," she mentioned in wonder.

He just tsked at her.  “You forget how many nights I came to your fire looking for a sparring partner.  I've been watching you for a long time and I know how you move.  I can close my eyes and see it even now.”

Brienne smiled and used her free hand to staunch the blood flow from Ser Hyle’s neck.  “You, ser, are no true knight.”

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I basically never write in this fandom, so I hope I didn't butcher the canon too much. I hope you liked this bit of unlikely post-ADWD speculation. This is for the lovely people in the Brienne x Hyle fandom.


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